At Midnight
by Zee-Zee Magee
Summary: A phone call and a couple of kidnappings. What will Nate do when he has to choose who he loves more? T for safety do to a mention of drug use.
1. Telephone

"She'll be dead by midnight," Ian Blackpoole hisses into the phone right before the dial tone speaks in his place and the phone drops right out of Nate's hand.

"What is it?" Parker questions the broken look on his face with wide eyes of curiosity.

"What's going on?" Hardison demands as his eyes grow wider at the mastermind's silence.

"How long?" Eliot asks because he knows exactly what just happened.

"They're going to…" Nate stammers in shock of the situation completely, "midnight."

"What do you mean midnight?" Parker asks in confusion though her voice does have a hint of horror and fear in it.

"Who's they?" Hardison questions because he's scared and pretty certain of where this conversation is going.

"Which one?" Eliot demands because there can only be two options in this situation.

"Both," Nate replies in shock of what was happening, "He has them both."

"Maggie," Parker gasps as she catches up with the rest of the class.

"Blackpoole," Hardison growls as reality and hatred have finally set in, "He has them."

"What did she say?" Eliot orders because he knows full-well what's about to happen.

"Sophie," Nate sighs as his knees finally give out because he can't do this again, "Not Sophie."

"Maggie?" Parker questions again because she's pretty certain she's figured out where this is going and she's not too certain she likes it.

"Not Sophie," Hardison shakes his head because he knows exactly where this is going and he absolutely hates it.

"Why?" Eliot begs as he tries his hardest not to fall with the already broken man at the news, "Why would she do this? We're not doing this."

"We have to," Nate glared at the hitter impressively as the truth needed to be told, "She wants this. She asked me to."

"Where…?" Parker stumbles over the words at the pain exploding in her chest, "Where are we supposed to pick her up?"

"You're not coming," Nate orders fiercely at the young thief, "Neither are you, Hardison."

"No way, man," Hardison argues back automatically, "We have the right to say good-bye."

"You're not coming," Nate states a little louder than before, "and that's final."

"You're not going to stop them, Nate," Eliot yells at the desperate man immediately, "They're going to come whether we let them or not."

"How?" Parker crackles as she tries her hardest to be strong in their current situation, "How is this going to happen?"

"He wants me to do it," Nate calmly replies but there is no calm in his voice only death.

"You?" Hardison stares at the man in shock, "He's making you do it?"

"It's his revenge," Nate explains woodenly, "It's the only way. Save one or lose both, that's our only option."

"Bastard," Eliot huffs in frustration because he knows exactly what's happening and there's nothing he can do to stop it, "Let me do it instead."

"No!" Nate shouts at the hitter with wild eyes, "I have to do it or he'll kill them both!"

"But it's Sophie!" Parker screams louder because she's already been in this situation too many times before for this not to hurt so much worse than before.

"You can't do it, man," Hardison shakes his head as if he could make it so they wouldn't have to go through this.

"He has no choice," Eliot groans because he knows and the knowledge alone is threatening to crush him.

"I have to," Nate cries out in horror as reality rears its ugly head in his direction and adds insult to injury by adding the tongue, "at midnight."


	2. Seriously!

**A/N: **_Oops, forgot to put this in the first chapter and am way too lazy to fix it! I do not own Leverage otherwise I would be writing it and laughing at the fact that I know how the season ends and you do not! Cruel, but you know that's exactly what they're doing right now! Oh, and I felt the need to clear out my drabble folder that I am proud to say is now filled with equal parts fanfiction and my own stories. Good day! _

The warehouse was oddly quiet when they entered the room. Maggie and Sophie continuously exchanged worried glances as they watched their captor pace in anticipation. Maggie continued to wonder what the plan was for getting them out of their current mess. Sophie wondered if Nate would be able to survive what he was about to do. Neither, one of them cared about what was going on in Blackpoole's mind. They both had a pretty good idea what it was without even having to think about it. Ian Blackpoole was thinking about which woman his opponent would choose to kill and he was giddy about it.

"I wonder which one of you it will be," Blackpoole sneered when the quiet became too much for him, "I'm betting this is going to be a very educative night for all of us. We get to see which one of you Nathan cares most about; his ex-wife he had shared a son with or his thief girlfriend who took the man he was away. This is definitely going to be an interesting night."

_Clearly you've already made the decision for him,_ Sophie thought angrily at the man who had actually succeeded in stealing her right under her friends' noses, _if I weren't so drugged up right now I would totally kill you._

_I can't believe I ever liked him_, Maggie thought with a roll of her eyes as she watched the grifter carefully_, she's rolling right now. I hope they hurry their plan up soon because she is bound to be in trouble._

"It's almost midnight," Blackpoole stated with a smirk as he stared at his watch in eager anticipation, "If he doesn't hurry I might just have to take the both of you out!"

"Keep your shorts on," Hardison spoke angrily as he and the others showed up with pointed glares, "We're here."

"Are we having an audience, Nathan?" Blackpoole asked gleefully as he motioned for his guards to show themselves in case the plan had been forgotten.

"Hello, Ian," Nate growled at the man who was destroying everything all over again.

"Can we speak to them without the gags?" Parker demanded hotly as she kept her eyes trained on the grifter.

"Of course," Blackpoole happily obliged them as he motioned for the gags to be taken off of his prisoners, "I wouldn't want you to miss the good-bye. Besides, how else are they going to plead their case for survival?"

"Hi guys," Maggie calmly smiled at the team of thieves, "How have you been?"

"Busy," Eliot smiled back at the civilian woman with kindness and obvious fondness, "We defeated some bad guys and got ourselves into a mess like usual. How about you?"

"Nothing's broken," Maggie shrugged at the statement as she kept a careful eye on the way the team was acting towards the grifter, "We're fine."

"Hi, Nate," Sophie forced a smile on her face with eyes only slightly wider than usual.

"You're drugged," Nate scowled at the fact as he kept his eyes trained on his grifter.

"You're drunk," Sophie quipped back right on cue because they all knew she was right.

"Let's get down to business," Blackpoole happily replied as he slapped his hands together in anticipation, "Let the pleading begin."

"Oh you are not seriously doing this?" Maggie questioned at the unanimous winces coming from the team of thieves not being held captive, "You're not actually following through?"

"Have to," Parker remarked as she gave the woman a sad smile, "He'll kill you both if we don't."

"We just came to say good-bye," Hardison explained sadly as he too gave the woman a sad smile, "It's been a blast."

"It's a shame it has to end this way," Eliot continued sadly as he continued to hold the civilian woman's gaze, "but we don't have a choice."

"Nate," Maggie turned her gaze on her former husband with wide eyes, "You're not seriously…?"

"I have to, Maggie," Nate continued as he kept his eyes trained on the grifter, "I can't lose both of you and the bastard knows it."

"What are you doing?" Maggie demanded in a panic, "You can't do this! This isn't who you are! You're not a murderer! You don't have to do this! There has to be another way!"

"There isn't another way, Maggie!" Nate shouted as he chanced a look at his ex, "This is the only way! I'm sorry!"

"No," Maggie gasped as she realized exactly what was going on, "You can't! You won't!"

"It's the only way," Nate explained as he turned his gaze back on the grifter.

"Don't!" Maggie begged as she struggled uselessly against her restraints, "We can beat him! You don't have to do this! Please, Nate, don't do this!"

"Time is running out, Nathan!" Blackpoole interrupted as he kept his eyes trained on the grifter to see what she was going to do, "You should work on choosing now!"

"I…" Nate began as his eyes started darting back and forth between the two women he loved, "It's… I…"

"Nate," Maggie pleaded as tears started to fall down her cheeks, "Don't!"

"Tick tock," Blackpoole lazily replied as he raised his gun to show he meant business, "I'm about to shoot and from this angle I know I can get both!"

"Nate!" Maggie pleaded again as frantically as possible, "Please, don't do this to yourself! It's not worth it! Don't do this!"

"I'm sorry," Nate apologized as he continued to struggle with the gun, "I have no choice."

"Hurry," Eliot ordered as he began to watch the clock, "We don't have enough time!"

"Nate, you have to choose," Parker explained as tears started falling from her eyes too, "Please, we can't lose them both!"

"You have to do it, man," Hardison sighed as he tried his hardest not to watch the struggling man with the gun.

"Nate," Maggie gasped out in frustration, "think of Sam! Would your little boy want you to take a life if he were here? Don't do this! Sammy's in Heaven! If you kill you destroy any chance of seeing him ever again!"

"Nate," Sophie begged with tears cascading her face as she finally spoke, "Please!"

Nate stared at the grifter. He stared at her with a look of pure fear on his face as he continued to contemplate her plea. He finally made his decision. "I love you," he admitted to the grifter promptly before he raised his gun and pulled the trigger.

Parker made a quiet gasp of shock from the sound of the gun. Hardison closed his eyes as he watched the victim fall down from the force of the bullet. Eliot shook his head in misery at what had happened. Maggie screamed in fear the moment the gun went off. Sophie slumped to the ground as the bullet hit her heart. Nate dropped the gun in stunned disbelief at what he had done to his grifter.

"Interesting," Blackpoole giggled at the sight of the grifter dead on the floor, "I was expecting you to shoot Maggie the way you were looking at the grifter! That was definitely a fine performance, Nathan! I hope you learned your lesson!"

"Nate," Maggie sighed in shock as she stared at the body of Sophie Devereaux.

"What about the rest of the deal?" Eliot demanded professionally as he refused to make eye contact with the spot where the grifter was currently lying.

"Of course," Blackpoole smoothly replied as he motioned for his goons to let the other woman go, "I do know how to keep my end of the bargain."

"Nate," Maggie cried out again as she tried to comfort the broken man.

"Stay away from me," Nate ordered darkly as he kept his eyes trained on the woman he shot.

"Are we allowed to bury her?" Parker quietly asked when she found the strength to actually say something aloud.

"Or do you want to humiliate us further?" Hardison harshly added as he continued to stare at the grifter's body transfixed.

"Oh you can keep it," Blackpoole smirked at the scorn he was receiving, "The lesson has been learned. There's no need to keep the trash!"

"You son of a bitch!" Nate howled at the man with hatred blazing in his eyes, "She was never trash! She was everything!"

"You're the one who shot her," Blackpoole smiled at the remark, "So I guess she wasn't worth that much to you!"

"Ian Blackpoole," a very familiar British lilt stated angrily from its perch, "You are under arrest for the kidnapping of Maggie Collins. I believe you are well aware of all of the other mumbo jumbo."

"Sterling?" Blackpoole scoffed as he stared at the Interpol agent in disbelief, "This can't be!"

"It's about time you got here," Eliot growled at the agent angrily, "Now get this scumbag out of my sight before I decide to torture him!"

"My pleasure, Mr. Spencer," Sterling smirked as he motioned for his guys to arrest Blackpoole's guys, "Don't forget to clean up the mess!"

"Shut up," Hardison growled as he finally turned away from the body to glare at the agent hatefully.

"You couldn't help us save her," Parker growled as Hardison's arm suddenly wrapped around her to keep her in place and away from killing Sterling and/or Blackpoole.

"Sophie!" Nate cried out as he raced to the grifter the moment the rest of the evil men were all under arrest, "I'm so sorry! I love you!"

"Ow!" a gloriously familiar voice growled when Nate finally rolled her over to help put pressure on the wound, "that hurt!"

"I'm sorry," Nate apologized again with actual tears falling at the sight of her, "I had to make it look convincing."

"You can't be serious?" Maggie gasped at the sight of the grifter being alive in shock.

"Seriously?" Hardison huffed in dismay as his head snapped to the sound of the grifter's complaining, "Ya'll played us? Again?"

"You really should stop doing that," Parker stated with a huge grin before she inevitably gave up on the façade, "Yay, Sophie's alive!"

"Just once," Eliot gruffly remarked as he glared at the mastermind and grifter, "I would like to be involved in one of your stupid schemes of doom!"

"Can I die yet?" Sophie begged with pain clearly in her voice and real blood gushing from the bullet wound in her chest.

"Hell no!" Hardison shouted before Nate could even consider a reply, "We just got you back! We ain't giving you up that easily!"

"Besides," Parker added as she rushed to smother the grifter in a hug, "Who's going to do all of the grifting for us when you're gone?"

"That's so nice, Parker," Eliot hissed at the thief immediately, "That's the way to keep her wanting to stay with the living! Why don't you tell her about Nate's drinking and bitching while you're at it too?"

"I'm really starting to see the appeal of leaving," Sophie joked as she tried her hardest not to close her eyes.

"It's okay," Nate smiled kindly at her, "We're going to get you to a hospital!"

"We're thieves," Sophie shouted at the mastermind angrily, "We're supposed to be avoiding those at all costs!"

"Well tough," Hardison huffed at the grifter, "We want you in one piece!"

"Because a dead Sophie is not a fun Sophie," Parker added on gleefully as she seriously considered smothering the grifter again.

"No, Parker," Eliot ordered as he noticed how the mastermind was acting towards their grifter.

"What do you know," Sophie wistfully hummed as she tried to stay conscious, "this is the second time you've shot me, Mr. Ford."

"Third time," Nate stated casually as he assessed her injury, "but who's counting right?"

"I meant in the heart," Sophie smiled at his statement, "and last time only grazed me!"

"You're alive," Nate smirked at the pun, "That's all I care about right now!"

"I love you too, Nate," Sophie smirked blissfully as she finally passed out from the blood loss.

"It took them long enough," Maggie huffed with a smile to the shock of everybody.

"Who knew?" Parker demanded of the boys as they exchanged looks.

**A/N: **_Yes, I do believe Nate is that much of a bastard and Sophie was kind of high so I'm pretty certain she had absolutely no control over agreeing to it (maybe.) I agree, not my best work but I needed to clear some space and why not post it so people can help with my improvements. Review?_


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